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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. season — of the year
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — an illness
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. land — to come down
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. stand — to bear
  22. content — happy
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com